Taking the opportunity to show their journalistic ability, members of the Diamond Bar High School newspaper The Bull’s Eye competed at the annual Eastern Los Angeles Journalism Education Association write-offs at Citrus College in Glendora on Feb. 29.

The publication won the Novice News Sweepstakes and finished second place in Newspaper Sweepstakes. A majority of the Bull’s Eye competitors placed in the top 10 of the event they were in.

The categories offered were News, Novice News, Critical Review, Feature, Editorial, Sports, Newspaper Layout, Editorial Cartoon, Photography and Yearbook Layout.

“I was pleased that so many students placed in different categories, especially two first places in news categories. But I always am disappointed when we don’t win the Newspaper Sweepstakes, but finishing second isn’t bad,” adviser Doug List said.

Regarding news, novice news and editorial, students attended a mock press conference where a volunteer from a non-profit organization talked about helping with feeding the homeless and providing them with benefits as well. Taking home first place was senior Renee Elefante in News and sophomore Anika Yatawara in Novice News. Also placing in Novice News were sophomores Somiya Jajieh and Vera Wang, fourth and 11th, respectively; junior Connor Cho, ninth, and senior Alex Chun, 10th. Junior Camille McCurry and sophomore Reyna Wan went on to place fourth and seventh in Editorial, respectively.

“I couldn’t believe it when my name got called,” Elefante said. “I competed in last year’s write-offs in the same category, but I didn’t place then. So to go from that to getting first this year was really shocking, but exciting.”

Feature competitors had to write a story about Juan Solis who creates murals and hosts free painting lessons every month. Those in the top three got to take home one of the artist’s paintings. Seniors Grace Lee and Kate Zheng placed second and sixth, respectively.

Senior Nia Mitchell took home ninth place in Critical Review, where she wrote a feature-like story on Jamie Gravell and the non-profit company she works for.

In Sports, seniors Johnny Wang and Ryan Lam wrote about Ken Allen, an army veteran turned sports reporter who has covered Super Bowls and NBA championships. Wang earned sixth place and Lam eighth.

Other areas of competition were available to attendees. In Newspaper Layout, junior Josh Chou placed sixth. In Photography, freshman Kelsey Wu placed third, junior Tiffany Lee fifth, sophomore Abigail Hong sixth and junior Victoria Artale, eighth.

Members of DBHS’ yearbook, Taurus, also attended the event to compete in Yearbook Layout. The two teams placed in the top ten for layout design and copywriting. The team of seniors Shiva Dang and Fiona Huang along with juniors Grace Xiao and Cindy Chen finished fifth in layout design and second in copywriting while the team of seniors Ethan Chavarin, Angela Medina along with juniors Aileen Park and Stephanie Pan finished ninth in layout design and sixth in copywriting.

Those that placed in the top 10 were scheduled to move on to the Southern California Journalism Education Association’s state write-offs on March 14. However, amid growing coronavirus concerns, the competition was canceled.